Sarkozy treated Obamas to $41,000 in gifts

WASHINGTON— Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his supermodel wife, Carla Bruni, were clearly taken with President Barack Obama and his family back in 2011.

The Sarkozys gave the Obamas more than $41,000 worth of presents that year, becoming the most prolific foreign gift-givers to the U.S. first family, according to documents released Friday.

The gifts ranged from designer golf and travel bags and fine crystal to soaps and perfumes, according to the State Department’s Office of Protocol, which catalogues gifts to U.S. officials from foreign leaders.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, meanwhile, gave them a basketball.

Among the goodies presented to the Obamas by the Sarkozys were a large black Hermès golf accessory bag worth $7,750, two Baccarat crystal table lamps on silver pedestals worth $5,500, two Baccarat crystal statuettes depicting golfers, a monogrammed black leather Louis Vuitton business bag, hisand-hers Christian Dior bathrobes and a black leather Dior clutch. Sarkozy also gave Obama a sculpture of Alexander the Great’s horse, a Lacoste shirt, a fountain pen and, perhaps in a nod to his tobaccousing days, a Ligne 8 lighter. Under law, most non-perishable gifts to the president and other U.S. officials are sent to the National Archives or General Services Administration unless the recipient reimburses the Treasury for their estimated value.